Davey Tree to donate maple to GN Estates

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Published: March 20, 2013

Recovery from Hurricane Sandy has been a long process, and the Village of Great Neck Estates is taking it one tree at a time.

The Davey Tree Expert Company will be donating a tree to the Village of Great Neck Estates for Arbor Day, April 26 this year - after taking down hundreds of trees after Hurricane Sandy last November.

The tree will be an Acer Rebrum, also known as Red Maple, and will serve as a symbol of “rebirth” according to Davey Tree assistant district manager Kevin Sheehan (pictured right).

“We got there the first week of the hurricane, and there were trees on homes blocking the streets. Donating this tree is the least we can do,” Sheehan said.

Village of Great Neck Estates Mayor David Fox announced the donation at a village board meeting last week, which he described as “terrific news.”

Fox commended Sheehan for doing “an enormous amount of work in the village” following Sandy, and said a location for the tree is likely to be Great Neck Estates Park.

Sheehan said he is working with the village on putting together an unveiling ceremony of the tree on Arbor Day.

He said the tree is very adaptable to its surroundings and grows fast, and the cultivar of the tree will either be a ‘Red Sunset’ or ‘October Glory’ - both varieties whose leaves will turn red in autumn.

“There are thousands of them across Long Island, its a very popular and beautiful tree,” Sheehan said.

Davey Tree has had a contract with the Village of Great Neck Estates for a number of years, and they have a working relationship with multiple other villages on the Gold Coast of Long Island. They will be donating trees to other villages as well.

Sheehan said Davey Tree, which is based out of Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the largest tree companies in the world, and oldest dating back to 1880. He also noted that they do tree maintenance work for the White House and the Pentagon.